Housing.



C. H. LISTERL HOUSING.

APPLICATION men MAR. 21. I915.

1,230,586. Patented June 19, 191 7.

2 SHEETS-SHEET I.

v F6.i

I l J lliifnesses IIQUerEZZP 7 Charles Jfenrg Lifter C. H. LlSTER.

HOUSING.

APPLICATION man MAR-27,1915.

Patented June 19, 1917.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

LQtbzes ses I11ueni'or W Charles Henrqlisiiar (@71 1n] W @1 was Non-ms Fznns cn. Pnnmumn wasmmzwm o. c

CHARLES HENRY LISTER, OF NORTH ST. PAUL, MINNESOTA;

HOUSING.

Specification of Letters Patent Patented June 19, 1917.

Application filed March 27, 1915. Serial N 0. 17,376.

T 0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CHARLES HENRY LISTER, a citizen of the United States, residing at North St. Paul, in the county of Ramsey and State of Minnesota, have. invented new and useful Improvements in Housings, of which the following is a speci fication.

Hy invention relates to improvements in metal housings or inclosures.

The object of my invention is to provide an inclosure of this class, which may be manufactured as a factory product, adapted to be shipped in knock'down form, and then readily assembled, at the place where used, without the aid of skilled labor. More specifically it is my object to produce in a device of this kind a light and easily assembled skeleton frame made up of ribs, provided with unions and adapted to form supports to receive sheet metal panels.

The specific form in which I have illustrated my invention is that of a housing for a spiral chute or elevator. Housings heretofore employed for this purpose have been specially constructed in situ and have been erected by expert metal workers at unnecessary expense or else have been defective in construction and workmanship. In either event the completion of the chute or elevator is usually unduly delayed.

The invention also comprises novel structural features and combinations of parts which will be hereinafter described and claimed.

In the drawings Figure .1 is a perspective View of a housing embodying my invention; Fig. 2 is a detailed perspective view showing dilferent forms of ribs, employed in my housing, the solid lines illus trating a curved rib and the dotted lines a straight rib; Figs. 3 and 4 are inside views of joint covers; Figs. 5, 6, 7 and 8 illustrate various arrangements of unions; Fig. 9 is a detailed View illustrating the ends of abutting ribs and the adjacent corners of panels at a joint in the housing, and also shows in dotted lines a union connecting said ribs, and Fig. 10 is a perspective view showing the manner in which the ribs of the housing are joined by the unions.

My invention includes primarily a suitably supported frame work, consisting of tubular ribs forming frame units, adapted to receive metal panels and means for oinmg the LlIlltS in an integral'structure.

Referring to the drawings, I have used.

the reference numeral 10 to indicate tubular ribs, and 11 to designate unions which join said ribs to make up the frame work of the housing. Each rib 10 is formed from a strip of sheet metal, the central portion thereof between its longitudinal margins being shaped to form a tubular bead 12 (see Figs. 2, 9 and 10). The margins of said strip of. metal provide flanges 13, which are turned back from the seam in said tubular bead, and the channels 14 between i the adjacent. surfaces of said bead and flanges form parallel grooves, in which the edges of metal panels 15 are received and secured, as will hereinafter appear. These ribs '10 may be straight or curved to suit the style of housing desired. When said ribs are curved the beads 12 lie upon the outer or convex side thereof. The unions 11, constructed preferably of cast iron, consist of a plurality of branches 11 extending in suitable angular relation with respect. to eachother (see Figs. 5, 6, 7 and 8). Said branches, being cylindrical and either straight or curved to suit the form of adj acent ribs, are adapted to fit into the open ends of the beads 12 andwunite said ribs. When the ends of the beads 12 are fitted over the proper branches 11 of unions (see Fig. 10), the corners of the flanges 13, at the junction of said ribs, overlap each other and the channels 14, formed between said flanges and beads of adjacent ribs, provide continuous grooves inwhich the edges of a sheet metal panel 15 are inserted, as seen in Fig. 9. To provide means for securely holding all of the parts at a joint, I furnish a keeper 16, whose branches 16 form semicylindrical joint-covers for the adjacent ends of the beads 12, with intermediate depressed flanges 16 to overlap the corners of the panels 15, and the lapping flanges 13 of the ribs 10. The flanges 16 of the keepers 16 are perforated (see Figs. 3 and 4) to register with perforations 17 in the panels 15, and overlapping flanges 13 of the ribs, (Figs. 9 and 10) and bolts or. rivets 18 are placed and secured in said registering perforations. It will thus be seen that the ribs 10, unions 11, panels 15 and keepers 16 are rigidly united to form a finished and substantial structural entirety.

In the housing shown in Fig. l a circular base 19 with an upright annular flange 20 is employed to support the frame work. Said upright flange is inserted in one channel it in each of several curved ribs 10, said ribs being joined at their abutting ends with inverted T-shaped unions, to form an annular girder about the entire structure. The upright branches of said unions are inserted in beads 12 of upright ribs, which are furnished at their upper ends with unions of the form indicated in Fig. 8. T he horizontal branches of said unions connect the ends of curved ribs 10, forming a second annular girder. Upright ribs 10, extending from the unions joining the sections of said second girder, support a third similar girder, and upright ribs 10, extending from the unions joining said third annular girder, support a. fourth similar girder. The spaces between the ribs are filled with horizontally curved panels 15, the edges thereof fitting in the channels of said ribs. Keepers 16 are placed over the joints between the ribs and are riveted to the corners of the panels 15 and the overlapping ends of the ribs 10. A conical roof 21 for said housing is provided, the frame thereof consisting of a plurality of ribs diverging from a union 11, shaped as illustrated in Fig. 8. Said ribs rest upon the upper annular girder of the housing and support curved segmental roof panels 22, the diverging edges thereof being fitted in the channels of said ribs.

It will be noted that the rib 10 is resilient because the seam 28 in the beads 12 is normally slightly open. This construction perinits the transverse compression of the ribs or in other words, provides yielding panel receiving channels, which snugly grip panels of normal size and may be sprung to accommodate oversized panels, or to allow for expansion and contraction, without disturbing the alinement of the ribs.

It is of course obvious that plane surfaced walls as well as annular walls are included within the spirit of my invention.

Having described my invention, what I claim new and desire to protect by Letters Patent is:

1. In a housing, a plurality of ribs, unions joining the ribs end-to-cnd, said ribs forming frames, panels secured at their edges in said frames and keepers overlapping the oints between said ribs, and means for uniting said keepers with said ribs and panels to form a unitary structure.

In a housing, a plurality of ribs, each rib comprising a strip of metal, a portion thereof between its longitudinal margins being shaped to form a tubular bead, unions with branches arranged in suitable angular relation, said branches being inserted in the open ends of the beads of said ribs to join the same, said ribs being arranged so that the adjacent margins thereof overlap at the joints, panels mounted at their edges in the channels formed between the beads and 1nargins, keepers to cover the joints between said ribs and means for uniting said keepers with the overlapped portions of said margins and with said panels to form a unitary structure.

In a device of the class described, a plurality of ribs, each rib comprising a strip of sheet metal shaped to form a bead between the longitudinal margins thereof, unions having branches adapted to join said ribs end to end by insertion in the open ends of said beads, panels secured at their edges in the channels between the beads and the margins of said ribs, keepers covering the joints between said ribs and means for unit ing said keepers and ribs to form a rigid self-sustaining inclosure.

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

CHARLES HENRY LIS' ER. lVitnesses:

JOHN E. STRYKER, F. C. CASWELL.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. G. 

